Several key strategic incidents occurring today which will lead to a bigger story soon to surface. It bodes well to understand the day-to-day strategic positioning, which lends to understanding what is about to happen. The media will not report on these individual examples, nor are they disposed to connect the dots of consequence.

First, a widespread and strategic attack by ISIS against several targets in the Northern Sinai region has taken place. At least 25 members of Egyptian military and civilians have been killed. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has been outlined as responsible for the attacks.
The Islamists within Ansar Beit al-Maqdis were initially inspired by al-Qaida, but last year the group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, which controls large parts of Syria and Iraq.
This follows an uptick in calls for the assassination of Egypt’s President Fattah al-Sisi by the Muslim Brotherhood. Additionally, and to support their efforts, the Brotherhood were hosted last week by members of the U.S. Obama administration. (more…)

King Abdullah was a key financial supporter of Sisi’s Egypt and an ally against Islamic extremism. Abdullah was also the first head of state to visit Cairo after Sisi’s election win last May. In August 2014 al-Sisi reciprocated with a trip to the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah for talks with Abdullah.

على صحة الملك، بمدينة الملك عبدالعزيز الطبية الأمير سلمان يستقبل الرئيس المصري عبدالفتاح السيسي خلال اطمئنانه

“On the king’s health, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Prince Salman Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi receives through confidence in”.  Jan, 19th

Earlier this week the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made a lightning stop in Riyadh (Monday night 1/19 pictured above) to visit the ailing Saudi King Abdullah, official media reported.
The relationship between al-Sisi and King Abdullah was instrumental in convincing the gulf Arab states to unite and pressure Qatar leveraging a change in political outcome away from extremism. (more…)

Given the current corner the administration has painted themselves in to…. This little non-reported side story around Iran holds all the customary predicative elements of Team Obama constructing a White House photo-op. Watch carefully and let’s see if Abedini is released in the next two weeks for all the reasons one would expect….
(Via WFB) President Barack Obama will meet with the family of a U.S. pastor imprisoned in Iran on Wednesday in Boise, Idaho, an administration official has confirmed.
Obama will visit with Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of Saeed Abedini, along with their two children as he travels to Boise to discuss proposals from his State of the Union address.
Iranian authorities initially detained Abedini in September 2012. He was later sentenced to eight years in prison on charges related to his Christian faith.
Naghmeh Abedini said in a statement that she had repeatedly attempted to either meet with the president or talk with him on the phone for the last two years. (more…)

It is with a profound sense of concern and fear, we share a documented belief President Obama is intent on allowing Iran to fulfill its nuclear ambitions.

[The President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur. (link)

So the new White House position is that any “agreement” they make with Iran regarding nuclear ambitions or sanctions are not technically “treaties” per se’.

(Via Wall Street Journal) The Obama administration collided with Congress Wednesday over Iran sanctions, and both sides were girding for a brawl that appeared likely to stretch through the year.
Lawmakers from both parties vowed at a Senate hearing to press ahead with legislative plans for new punitive measures—over President Barack Obama ’s veto warnings. Top administration officials, meanwhile, disclosed at the hearing that the international talks over Iran’s nuclear program may extend beyond an end-of-June deadline. That would be the third such extension. […]
Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the White House doesn’t view an agreement with Iran as a treaty that requires Senate approval, but a matter of “executive prerogative.” (read more)
President Barack Obama pledged during the 2012 campaign, and since, that he will not let Iran develop nuclear weapons.   This is one of the broken promises that WILL HAVE  massive geopolitical consequences
Here is a timeline of the Obama administration’s Iran policy, as the world’s most dangerous nation and leading state sponsor of terrorism moves inexorably towards acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapon.
(more…)

Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted Speaker John Boehner’s invitation. President Stompy Feet says he will not host a visit; John Kerry follow’s Stompy’s lead.

(Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday he would address the U.S. Congress in March, saying in a statement the invitation tendered by House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner was bipartisan.
Blindsiding the Obama administration, Boehner announced the invitation to Netanyahu on Wednesday, drawing White House complaints that protocol had been breached.
(more…)

The White House cries “breach of protocol“, or something:

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that usually leaders inform the White House before planning a trip to the U.S. He said the administration will decide a course of action after speaking with the Israelis about what Netanyahu will say in his address, the Associated Press reported.  (link)

WASHINGTON DC – Speaker John Boehner has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress about Iran next month, a move sure to inflame the Obama administration, which is trying to negotiate a nuclear deal with the Islamic republic.
Netanyahu is vehemently opposed to the emerging deal, and has been very vocal that the United States is making a mistake in negotiating with the nation. In many ways, he’s served as President Barack Obama’s foil as negotiations have progressed. Boehner, an Ohio Republican, is setting up a major confrontation with the Obama administration one day after the State of the Union – a move that is sure to put him in good graces with his House Republican Conference. Boehner has invited Netanyahu to address Congress for a third time Feb. 11. (more…)

Democrat Senator Menendez is not having anything to do with the White House position on acquiescence to Iran’s nuclear intentions.

WASHINGTON DC – A powerful Democratic senator is accusing the White House of using talking points “straight out of Tehran.”
During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Iran nuclear negotiations Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez blasted the Obama administration for their recent talk on Iran. (more…)

(Via Stars and Stripes) For the wife of the gunman accused of killing four people at a kosher supermarket in Paris 10 days ago, the escape from questioning about complicity in the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks was relatively easy.
Once Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, got to Turkey, she followed the path of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of other European jihadi volunteers before her — into the self-declared Islamic State.
Aided by smugglers in the Turkish border town of Akcakale, and several companions, she walked through a disused border crossing on Jan. 8 and into the Syrian town of Tal Abyad, which has been an Islamic State stronghold for months. (more…)

This is not a Saturday Night Live sketch, this is real [I cannot stop laughing]. This has to be the ultimate representative optic of all things liberal and ridiculous.
In an effort to repair the optics stemming from the White House skipping the French “unity rally”, someone, somewhere, probably Secretary Kerry himself, thought it would be a great idea to take James Taylor to France to sing “you’ve got a friend” publicly, on stage, with Secretary Kerry – as the liberal audience/media look on swooningly….
I just cannot stop laughing. This is too funny to even be embarrassed. Watch:

Asia Times Online,  Jan 16/2015:
Saudi reset with Iran unavoidable, as Saudi Prince Turki renames IS “Fahesh” (obscene)….

The terrorist strike last week on the Saudi border post facing the Iraqi province of Anbar — known to be the Islamic State’s first assault on the kingdom — could be the proverbial straw on the camel’s back, forcing Riyadh into a profound rethink of its regional strategies imbued with the rivalries involving Iran…
Tehran has effectively countered the Saudi plots in Syria and Iraq and at the moment would seem to have the upper hand. The last-ditch Saudi attempt to hurt the Iranian economy by forcing a steep decline in oil prices is not only not having the desired effect but, as President Hassan Rouhani explicitly warned yesterday, Riyadh may end up shooting at its own feet (as well as the Kuwaiti brother’s).

However, it is the attack on the Saudi post by the IS (killing two border guards and their commanding officer) that becomes a defining moment. The fact that the IS attackers included three Saudi nationals must be a rude awakening. To be sure, the blowback has begun. The Saudis hope to erect a ‘great wall’ and insulate themselves from the IS barbarians next door but that is sheer bravado.
(more…)